A life Without Regret, A Love without Fear
by Shironami
Summary: My name is Portgas D. Rouge, and this is my story. From the moment my eyes met his I knew something amazing was going to happen. I'll never forget this day, the day my life changed forever. Even knowing all I know now, I wouldn't change a thing. Ch 6!WOW
1. so it begins

…

By shironami

I never thought my life would be anything like how it now was. I always pictured myself being happily married to a fisherman or something else just as mundane. Living in a little cottage with 3 or 4 small children. I never imagined a life different than that my mother showed me through her own. How very wrong I was, not that I would change anything for all the treasure in the world. It wasn't as long as I pictured a romance being, but it was the happiest time in my life.

…....

I spent my days beside my sisters and mother weaving brightly colored blankets and chatting about nothing substantial. Packing up all our supplies if the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse. Patiently waiting for the storm to pass so we could go back to our duties. It was of course possible to work inside, but it was so much nicer outside. The palms that would sway in the wind, the call of the birds as the tried to find mates. The smell of the ocean on the wind, the balmy sunshine warming so throughly it felt as though it had become apart of me, radiating from my very soul. But the thing I loved most was the sea, I could weave and look out at the crystal blue water for hours on end and never get bored with it. Secretly, I always wondered what was on the other side of that sparking horizon, how many times as a child had I begged my father to take me out fishing with him? I longed for something I couldn't see and something I couldn't totally understand until some time later.

All five of us would always get excited if we saw the telltale sign of sails on the horizon, sometimes it would be Father and Uncle coming home from a few days with their nets and spears, proudly showing off their haul. Other times it would be the Navy sailing along their patrol route who happened to stop by for supplies or shore leave.

It was almost always locals, we never had much excitement on our little island. It was always the same, it had come predictable, even with my slight 16 years of life I knew everything I was going to experience I pretty much already had.

I had no children of my own yet, but my two older sisters had, I had experienced everything about motherhood save childbirth. And seeing what it was all about, it wasn't something I was looking forward too. But everything else made it completely worth it in my opinion. Seeing my nieces and nephew, I couldn't wait to get married and have children of my own. I had no idea then that it was not my fate to get married. And when I finally did have that small, crying person, I'd never get to see him.

I'd grown up with a fear of pirates. We had very little on our small island, but the threat of pirates was still there, just as for big islands rich with wealth and resources. The day those sails broke the horizon was the day all hell broke lose. Fear abound and people ran to hide; we all knew that flag and the terror that followed it. The man who was called Gold Roger had invaded our island, wanting what, only the Gods knew.

As the ship docked and people started jumping onto the wooden dock, I heard my sisters and mother screaming my name, calling me to them. Begging me to move.

I'll never forget that day, the day _that_ ship came, carrying _that_ man. I knew something amazing was going to happen when my eyes met his. That was the day my life changed forever.

…..

A/N:

Okay, when I saw Portgas D. Rouge I had to write her story, this is just the prequel, or whatever it's called. I wrote it in a rush, I've got like 10 minutes before I have to go to work. I just wanted to post it and get feed back. Tell me what you think and any ideas you might have! I still haven't worked out how she's a D too... crap, I gotta go!


	2. Pirates invade!

A Life Without Regret, A Love Without Fear

By: Shironami

Even though I heard my sister running up behind me, yelling my name in a panicked voice, I just stood there stupidly. She grabbed me by the arm and tried to drag me back to the house, but I stayed rooted on the spot; I watched him as he hopped over the side of the ship.

I was transfixed as my older sister dragged me back home, I've never seen anyone so captivating. He was tall and strong looking, with wild, black hair and an air of mystery and danger.

I was dumbfounded when he smiled at me, I suddenly found myself feeling awkward and unfamiliar in my own skin, I pushed a stray lock of strawberry-blond hair behind my ear sheepishly, not knowing what else to do and afraid my hands – suddenly having a mind of their own, as I realized they reamed my new handkerchief into a small unidentifiable mass of pink, frayed fabric without my knowledge – would do something stupid.

I found myself giving him a hesitant smile as I walked (reluctantly) beside Blanche as she continued to pull me a little too hard up the cobblestone pathway. I kept glancing behind me every few steps to see if that strangely attractive man was still watching me.

Looking behind me once again, I saw him give me another smile, this time much larger; showing a row of perfect, straight, white teeth. His eyes were full of light and I found it very hard to look away. It's like I was really seeing for the first time in my life, I felt like I was walking on clouds.

As I turned my head back to Blanche and her ruthless pulling, I saw the most appalling thing I'd ever witnessed: my hand, once again with a mind of its own, was giving the tall, dark man a shy wave.

Horrified, I released the death grip on my handkerchief to free that hand and used it to slap my other down against my side feeling like a total idiot and surly blushing like one as well. Suddenly, after that, I found it very easy to keep my eyes forward. Somewhere, in the back of my mind I could have sworn I heard him laughing, it was a warm, boisterous sound that made my cheeks flair even though I told myself I was hearing things... or at least I hoped I was.

By the time we got back to the house our mother had practically barricaded the door shut, "Rouge! Blanche! Where the hell have you been!?" Mother slammed the door behind us and shoved us into the middle of the room and went over to close the shutters.

"Fancy-Pants over here," she jerked her pretty blond head in my direction, "decided to make eyes at one of the pirates as he got off the ship," Blanche said as she gave me a dirty look.

I made a noise kind of like a strangled cat, "That's a load of crap, Blanche! Don't say stuff like that!"

"In fact, if I'd let her stay there, she'd probably be chopped in half right now!" she turned to me, "you should say 'thank you'," she gave me another spiteful look, tossing her long, blond curls at me.

My mother turned on me like a wildcat about to pounce on its newly found supper, "You were _what_!?"

She looked like she had half a mind to slap me, "Why would you even think of doing something that stupid!? You do know who those pirates are, don't you!?"

I was about to answer her absurd queries when she suddenly rounded on Blanche, "And you! Don't _ever_ say things like that again! It's not even something to joke about! Your father, uncle and the boys are still out at sea and that means we are much more likely to get targeted! The Gods only know what those pirates have in mind. Hopefully, they'll leave as soon as possible and leave us all alone!" She huffed, she paused for a second to catch her breath, "We'll all just stay here together until Father and your husbands get home."

My sisters and I just stood there not knowing what to say, my 13 year old sister, Fleur took my hand, "I wish Papa were here."

I sighed, squeezing my little sisters hand tight, "Me too," I whispered back.

As much as I tried, my poor infatuated mind kept drifting back to the man with the loud, happy laugh and dark, dancing eyes, so different from my own emerald orbs that always seemed empty when I looked in the mirror. It seemed the more I tried _not _to think about him, the more my not so lucid mind floated to his dark, wild locks and tall, dangerous appeal. I found myself – more than once – wondering what those dark strands felt like and wanting to hear that heartfelt laugh one more time (not that he'd laughed at me at all, I kept telling myself, in denial at my total loss of dignity).

We decided to try to keep as quiet as possible until we knew what was going on. Mother had made a simple soup and toasted some day-old loaf of bread in the oven. It was hard to hush the children as they ran around playing, not understanding why they had to play quietly.

I was setting the table with my 25 year old sister, Marie; dodging her 3 year old who was dancing around the table humming to herself.

She didn't say anything, so neither did I. Marie was the quiet one, it was always hard for others to tell what she was thinking. But Marie and I always had a special connection, we could always tell what the other was thinking or feeling, the age difference between us didn't seem to matter at all.

Right now, Marie was scared and unsure of what to do. She hated not knowing what was going on around her and was a tad over sensitive. Whenever our parents had even the smallest of fights, she'd be the first to know they were upset with each other and was the one that worried about it the most.

As I set the table in silence my mind started working against my will again, wondering what that man's name was, if he had a family somewhere, or if he was one of those sailors that took a woman at every port he stopped at, I kept seeing his face every time I closed my eyes. It wasn't long before I realized Marie was talking to me.

She sighed heavily, looking at me with empathy mixed with a bit of uncertainty, "You really were flirting with that pirate, weren't you?" she asked in a hushed voice as to not be overheard.

"I dance, I dance!" Celeste began to sing as she twirled around her mother, "Mama! Dance wif me!" she giggled as she swung her mother's skirt to and fro. Marie gently pushed the little girl away, "Darling, why don't you ask your sister to play with you, hum?" She patted her on the head as the child scampered off to parts unknown – more than likely Blanche's old room that had been converted to a playroom once grandchildren started appearing.

I rolled my eyes, "You know me better than that," I responded in the same whispered voice, "There was a guy and he smiled, that's it..." she gave me a dubious look, "honestly!"

She frowned at me, "You've got it bad..." she sighed while shaking her head at me, "you know how many times you've zoned out in the last few minutes?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" I hissed scandalized.

She laughed a little, "I remember what it was like when I met Raul, I was all fluttery and giddy," she smiled at me, a distant look in her eyes.

I smiled back, but I was in no way confessing feeling _fluttery_ let alone _giddy_. 'Besides,' I told myself, 'I don't even know anything about him, not even his name.'

Marie sighed again, snapping me out of my inner monologue,, "Not so much anymore..." she grinned at me, "enjoy the flutters while they're still there. You'll miss them when they're gone; it's not so romantic when noises you didn't think possible seem to manifest themselves from orifices you can't even see," she gave me a devilish smile she hadn't shared with me since before I even knew what she _really _meant whenever she flashed it at me.

"_Marie!_" I whispered, shocked that my prim sister would say such things. Blanche, sure... but Marie!? What had gotten into her?

In spite of myself I blushed at her words, "Honestly, if Mother heard you saying these things..." I trailed off, pushing my hair out of my face as I set down another glass, trying very hard not to imagine the images attempting to invade my mind.

Marie laughed, "She'd agree! You have no idea... well, at least not yet," she flashed me that smile again.

I gave her a look as my eyebrow rose, "I'm really starting to wonder about you."

"Hi!," a small, blond head popped up between us from under the table, "can I help?"

We stopped and looked at the 5-year-old, helping was not something he normally volunteered to do. I smiled, knowing he was up to something and patted his curly, dark blond head.

"Have you been listening to us from under the table this whole time?" Marie asked gently, "Nolan, did your mom send you to spy?"

Nolan giggled behind his small, pudgy hand, "Maaay-be...," he gave both of us the most innocent smile he could muster.

I sighed, "Go back and tell Blanche to do her own spying," I pointed toward the kitchen, where I was sure Blanche was there helping Mother cook, or more likely, just gossiping.

I was afraid to hear what she was telling Mama. Out of my three sisters, the eldest – Blanche – was the last one I wanted around when I did something a little less than smart. And even I have to admit, that whole thing with that pirate was not my most shining moment.

We'd always gotten along alright, but she was such a busybody. Sometimes I just want to tell her to mind her own business.

Marie shooed Nolan off, telling him to go play with his cousins.

He gave us a cute, melodious giggle, grabbed some grapes that were sitting in a bowl in the middle of the table and sauntered off, yelling, "Ma! They caught me! And they want you to do your _own_ spying!"

We could hear Blanche trying to hush her son.

I looked at Marie and we both started laughing, "That kid's a riot," I laughed, "he's definitely his mother's son. Luckily, his father's genes dilute Blanche's a little, if not, I'm sure that kid could take over the world. Between his innocent, cute demeanor and that cunning, conniving mind he got from Blanche it wouldn't even take him a lot of effort."

Marie laughed, "It's sad isn't it... we just have to steer him in the right direction."

"I don't know, I wouldn't mind being the aunt of the Emperor of the World," I giggled as I put the last plate on the table.

"Here, move that bowl so I can put this down right there," Mama said, giving me a slight start, she was carrying a huge pot of steaming soup that smelled delicious. Blanche came in behind her with the loaf of bread and a pitcher of milk for the kids. Odette, Blanche's 7-year-old daughter, followed her mother carrying a salad bowl and pitcher of ice water.

"Marie, go fetch the children, it's supper time." Mother seemed to be in a slightly foul mood, I wasn't sure if it was just the pirates who suddenly and unexpectedly docked or if it had something to do with whatever Blanche had told her.

Marie put down the last napkin and left in a hurry; apparently, she caught on to Mother's dour mood as well.

After Marie had gotten the other 3 children rounded up, we all sat around the table in silence, the adults afraid to say anything that might set their mother off and their children feeling the vibe, stayed quiet and ate silently, fearing any wrath that might blow their way.

After a surprisingly uneventful dinner, Marie and Blanche got their kids ready for bed.

Night was falling and I was washing the dishes as Mama went around and turned off lights that had become unnecessary as the kids were now in bed.

Mama walked toward me, putting a potholder on the hook over the stove, "I think we need to talk," she stated.

I heaved a huge sigh, "Look, whatever Blanche told you is way off. That pirate just smiled at me, nothing happened."

Her sky blue eyes narrowed, highlighting the fine wrinkles and crow's feet around them, "You be sure to make sure nothing does happen. I don't want you anywhere near those people," she said with finality.

I rolled my eyes, "It's not like I was planning on it or anything."

She sighed at me, looking like she believed me about as far as she could throw me. I expected her to say more, but she just turned and left, tossing a 'good night' over her shoulder.

I stood there at the sink, tears welling up in my eyes, for what reason, even as I lay in my bed sometime later, I was still unsure.

…......................

A/N: yay! I like this chapter so much more than the last one, but I was struck with inspiration and wrote it in like 20 minutes, right before work...I was getting ready and I had a eureka! Moment, so I was a little late for work. I haven't even proof read it, lol. I might rewrite it later, but for now, meh, whatever. It served its purpose!

I have to say, after writing this chapter I love the Portgas family! And we haven't even met them all yet!

I'm still at a loss as to how they are D.'s unless it has nothing to do with family, but I'm not sure. If you have any ideas, feel free to toss them at me. I was thinking of making them related to blackbeard in some way, what a twist huh!? Well, I just spoiled that didn't I? Or make them related to Garp, then ace and Luffy would be related in some way at least.

Thanks to the people who fav'd and Story alerted this!

And a special thanks goes to Sans-forever for being my only reviewer! Lol,

Till next time,

Shironami!


	3. Papa's home, Freedom!

A Life Without Regret, A Love Without Fear

Chapter 3

By: Shironami

We spent the next few days inside waiting for my father and brothers-in-law to come back from their weekly deep sea excursion.

When they finally did come home, the pirates were still around – or so we heard. Mother hadn't let us step outside once since they landed. They didn't seem to be causing much trouble though. Most were only interested in the pub and getting supplies. Donnie, my best friend and only window to the outside world, sent his hawk with letters tied to its foot to give me daily updates, I'd send it back with notes of my own; early on he wrote that they went back to the ship at night. This didn't surprise me since our little island wasn't a tourist location and there wasn't anywhere to stay short-term.

After Father came home Mama loosened the noose – a little. We could go in the yard and walk around our property, but we weren't allowed to venture past our weathered fence without an escort of the male persuasion, much to Fleur's and my own dismay.

I was dieing to go to the market, had I known all this mess would happen, I'd have gone to go replenish my candy supply early _that_ morning. But alas, I didn't. Like a good girl I did my chores first... now look where I am, it's been almost 6 days since I had some chocolate.

So, not only did I have a raging case of cabin fever, I was suffering from what Marie and I refer to as the ChocoWithdrawls. After the second day, I scoured the house but didn't find any chocolate, not even anything with refined sugar in it. I was going to kill something, I swore to Blanche on the third day. Oh, no... not that that was a threat or anything, I assured her. 'Muhahahahahahaha' my candy deprived mind cackled, I never knew it was so hard not to laugh when you were pretending to be sincere.

I was in the backyard doing some wash, again my mind wondering around in the dark recesses of my heart. Even with the five days between the first and only time I saw that tall, dark haired pirate, he hadn't left my thoughts for more than an instant.

I sighed deeply while hanging up a pale yellow blouse that belonged to my 13-year-old sister. Somewhere deep inside where even I couldn't hear my thoughts, I wondered if he thought of me too.

I hung up a pair of my father's worn out pants trying to make my mind think about something else, "BOO!" hands reached out and assaulted my ribcage, causing me to screech unattractively as I dropped the wet pants onto the ground.

I spun around on the ball of my foot, I struck out at my assailant, "Raul!"

He took a few steps back as I kept hitting him, his laugher growing as my hits landed harder, "What the hell? You think that's funny, Jackass!?" I pushed him backward with a harsh shove.

"Oh, yeah... soooo funny," Raul laughed, "ya know Ro, ya hits like a girl. kinda pathetic."

I frowned at him and picked up the discarded pants and threw them at him.

I smiled with satisfaction as they hit him square in the face with a wet smacking sound.

His laughter died down as he hung the pants up on the line, "So, anythin' interestin' happen this last week?"

I sighed irritatedly as he rubbed the top of my hair, messing it all up, "Nothing really, besides those pirates that is."

"Oh! Yeah, I heard abouts them. The Jolly Roger Pirates aint it?" He smiled, his clear hazel eyes shining as they always did when he knew a secret he thinks I don't know about.

"I guess," I shrugged noncommittally.

He grinned, running a hand though his dark coppery locks, "So, anythin happen between ya and some cabin boy ya wants ta be fessing up to?"

My eyes widened and then narrowed, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

He laughed again, "I thinks ya do!" he teased in an annoying sing-song voice.

"You are lucky you are my sister's husband..." I turned to walk away, my laundry all out to dry.

He smiled, "Yeah right! I'm the big brother ya never had!" He made a kissy face at me, "ya know ya loooooves me!"

I grinned and rolled my eyes, "Don't you mean 'the brother I never _wanted'_?" I'd given up ages ago trying to correct his grammar. I don't think I was the only one, sometimes I think this isn't his native language.

He slapped his large hand over his heart, gasping, "Ya've done brokes my heart! How could ya say such a thing!? I'm so tellin your sister on ya!"

I stood there with my hand on my hip and the laundry basket on the other. We stood there for a few minutes staring each other down. I narrowed my eyes slightly, as he the corners of his thin lips turned up.

I raised an eyebrow at him and shifted my basket a little. I saw him cracking under the weight, his mouth was suppressing a smile and he was trying to keep his eyes open.

A few moments later he blinked and started laughing, "Ah, crap!" he laughed.

"You lose," I stated simply, I gave him a huge smile, "you never win and you'll never win. Face it... you're a loser." I found myself not in the mood to play this game or even gloat that I'd won.

In the 10 years since he started courting my sister, he never won a staring game against me. And I loved it! As horrible as it was, I gloated shamelessly. But I never feel bad about it, we arm wrestle all the time and I've never won, and he gloats ten times worse than I ever do.

He really is the older brother I've never had, not that I'd ever tell him that. But, he has been around since I was six so I don't really remember him not being there. He and I have always gotten along perfectly, while Zane, who is Blanche's husband, and I don't really have much in common. Not that we fight or anything we just really don't talk to each other and when we do it's more formal and awkward.

Raul slung a heavy arm around my shoulders, "So 'bout ya an' this cabin boy-"

I cut him off, "I don't even know what you are talking about! There's nothing '_going on_' so why can't everyone just shut up about it?"

"Chill, Roro....so what's 'is name?" he asked, scratching his scruffy goatee.

I pulled myself out from under his hairy arm, "I don't know his name cause there's nothing going on. I saw him _once, _and all he did was smile at me. He was probably just trying to be nice or something."

He raised an eyebrow at me and hummed at me, "well, either way Marie says you gots the hots for 'im!"

Of course Marie told him, she tells him almost everything, "I don't have the hots for anyone," I huffed at him.

He hopped a few steps ahead to catch up with me, "Ya know, I've been aroun town, they're everywheres. But they seems nice enough, they're not pillagin and burnin the village ta the ground. I don't think they're the holy terrors of the seas we thinks they are."

I gave him an incredulous look, "They're pirates! They're criminals, wanted by the marines!" I shook my head at him, trying to hide my secret happiness, at least someone didn't think they were all evil, "I'm sure they're ecstatic that you approve of them."

He gave me a warm smile, "Say, I gots some deliveries ta make," he wiggled his eyebrows at me, "wanna come with?"

I glared at him, trying to find his angle, I knew he was up to something.

He saw my suspicion, "We can stop by the market..." he sang at me while wiggling his finger at me, "I know ya's been outta chocolate for some whiles now."

How the hell did he know half the crap he knew? Sometimes I really wondered if his stupidity was just a cover. Maybe there was a genius hiding under all that un-kept hair and horrible grammar.

But I do want candy...badly, "Sure, I guess. Let me go get my bag."

I walked past him and he crossed his arms over his chest and laughed triumphantly. Gods, sometimes I wondered why I put up with him at all. Sadly, I knew I was just as attached to him as Marie was. I think he knew it too.

I dropped the basket in the laundry room and went upstairs to my bedroom.

Shutting the door behind me, I walked to my desk. I picked up my purse from its surface and shuffled some papers around making it look a little neater.

I looked down at myself and decided a change of clothes was probably a great idea. I opened my closet and pulled out a clean dress, it was kinda old, but one of my favorites.

It was sky blue, calf-length with a full skirt, it was gathered in the middle to create pretty folds down the middle of the skirt and over the bodice. It had a corset that was a deep navy blue that laced up the front. I always let the silky strings hang down after I tightened them. I loved the sleeves that were made of a sheer fabric that draped down to my elbows. Last year, Fleur accidentally ripped one of them down the middle when she was pilfering though my clothes, seeing if anything fit her growing 'womanly curves', she came to me crying, knowing this was my favorite dress. I told her it wasn't a big deal and just ripped the other in the same fashion. I sewed the sleeves so they wouldn't fray, over all, I loved the effect, now the sleeves separated over my arms some in the front and some in the back. I thought it made the dress seem a little more mature, as it showed a little more skin.

I played with the ruffles of the under dress that accented my chest, spreading them out to cover a bit more of my breasts, I slipped on a pair of blue flat heeled shoes and grabbed the shawl my mother made me last year, it was early spring and a chill was still in the air, snow still blanketing the far away mountain tops.

I looked at myself in the mirror that hung on my door, I brushed out my curly, strawberry-blond hair and pinned it back with a few clips so it would stay out of my face. I think I looked good enough to go out in public, I wasn't as pretty as Blanche was, but I liked to think I was a pretty as the next girl. The only thing I really hated was the childish freckles that splashed across my cheeks. My mother said they were cute... I was on the brink of womanhood, my father was ready to marry me off, I didn't want to be cute, I wanted to be beautiful.

I shrugged at the person looking back at me in the mirror and went on my way.

I walked into the living room where my mother was mending a pair of pants and Fleur was practicing her knitting, I couldn't tell what she was attempting to make.

My mother caught what I was waring, "I'm going to assume you're not going to gut fish wearing _that_ are you?" The way she said it made it seem like a statement, not a question

"No," I didn't really care to elaborate.

Unfortunately, she wanted me to, "Were do you think you're going? Dressed like that no less?"

I rolled my eyes, "Mother please, I wear this all the time! Hell, even Fleur's worn this."

She narrowed her eyes at me pursing her lips in thought, "Where are you going?"

I heave a giant sigh, "To the market."

"You're _not_ going alone!"

"Ooh! I'll go!" Fleur said, bouncing in her seat.

"Oh hoho, you're not going anywhere!" she pointed at my little sister, who deflated like a balloon slowly loosing air.

She crossed her arms over her chest and dropped back into the chair pouting, knitting discarded and forgotten on the empty seat next to her.

"Go back upstairs, you're not going anywhere!" she pointed back the way I had come from.

"Mother, I'm almost 17 and besides, Raul asked me to help him with his deliveries. It's not like I'm going to be up to no good with my brother am I? AND!" I pointed my index finger in the air, "he's a person of the male persuasion." I rest my case!

"Marie can help him, she is his wife, now get back upstairs."

"She's probably too busy with the kids, besides he asked me," I sighed, "he's waiting for me outside."

My mother gave me a look that could kill, "Fine, but if anything hap-"

"Okay, love ya, bye," I ran out the front door as fast as I could, my flats making little tapping sounds on the hardwood floor as I went.

When I got outside, Raul was sitting on the porch swing, rocking back and forth, humming to himself, a little habit he passed onto Celeste, his youngest child.

"Let's get the hell outta here," I grabbed his arm and dragged him off our property.

"Okay," he said as we walked down the short path that let to the city, looking over a piece of paper, "We gots ta go to the fish market, then ta the Borges restaurant," he readjusted the giant cooler he had slung over his shoulder. I don't know how he carried it around like that, with all the seafood that weighed it down it must have been at least 70 pounds.

It was only a matter of minutes before the dirt road that lead not only to our home, but the beach its self was slowly becoming paved with cobblestones.

We went to the fish market first and sold most of what we had there, the local fish mongers only fished a few miles out, we got a better variety going out much farther, we never had any problem unloading whatever we caught.

We made a little small talk with some familiar faces, chatting about the usual. Sometimes I swore the same day just repeated its self over and over and we called it life.

When Raul was finished talking he nudged me and motioned that we were leaving, I smiled at Juliet and told her goodbye.

We walked to Borges next, it took about 20 minutes. I was just glad to be out and about. I waved to people I knew as I walked along side Raul. We could easily pick out those who called that pirate ship home, they were minding their own business for the most part, but still it was easy to tell them apart from everyone else. They dressed, acted, sounded and even walked differently.

We got to the back entrance of Borges and knocked on the door, the sous-chef let us in with a smile, "So what'd you bring us this time!?" I always thought it was so funny how he got all excited over a bunch of smelly sea creatures.

"Ah! Gots a huge treat for ya taday! We caught..."

I tuned them both out, I was along for the ride, so to speak. Distracted, my eyes went wide at the desert tray that was parked about five feet from where I was standing.

I bit my lip, trying very hard not to notice how delicious that chocolate cake looked. I do believe this is the first time in five days my mind pushed that dark haired man completely out of my mind. All I could see, hear, taste and touch was that beautiful piece of cake beckoning me to it.

"Whoa! Whoa, sis...," Raul grabbed my wrist laughing, "I knows it's been a long times, but still... Ya really wanna go stuffin ya face with that?"

My mind popped back into reality and I noticed I was about to grab that piece of cake, all manners forgotten. I gave a nervous laugh, "Oops, wow.... I'll just be waiting outside now."

I left through back door, hearing them both laughing at me made my cheeks burn in humiliation, I heard my brother saying, "Well, I'd better gets her to the market, she's been needings some chocolates for a whiles now."

Gods, why did he have to say that? It made me sound like some crazy person on drugs! I sighed and waited for them to finish their transaction.

I paced outside, growing impatient. I figured they were chatting inside and had already forgotten about me. I plopped myself down on some old wooden crates and starting kicking my shoe off, seeing how long I could keep it dangling on the tips of my toes before it fell with a soft thump to the ground and I started my little game all over again.

The door finally opened and Raul walked nonchalantly out, a big smile plastered across his face. He showed me the empty inside of his stinking cooler.

"Yeah, I'm so proud, it's empty. Can we go now?" I asked with a sigh.

He laughed, "Sure."

We walked another 20 minutes to get the the market. Raul said he was going to look around and that he'd meet me back at the front doors in 10.

I went to the candy section and started loading my basket with anything and everything that was high in fat, sugar and had no nutritional value what so ever. I was not going to go without again, this was going to be my secret horde. Fleur always got into my candy... I vowed I'd hide it so good she'd still think I was out.

I paid for my candy and asked that it be double bagged, if I ran into Fleur I'd tell her I bought feminine items, not like she could tell either way through the dark brown bag anyway.

I met Raul by the front doors, he had a bag as well, "What'd you get?" I asked trying to sneak a peak.

He shrugged, "I was outta paints, I gots some more."

"Didn't you just buy some?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, Celeste decided she wanted ta plays with em too. She ain't half bad, reallys," he smiled, obviously happy one of his children had a talent with art like he did.

"What'd she make?" I asked.

"She paints the flowers in the garden, really good fors a 3-year-old," he said nodding his head.

"Wait, where are we going," I asked, suddenly noticing that we weren't going back home.

He gave me a huge grin, "The tavern."

I almost turned around to go home, but decided what did I care really? I happily munched on my chocolate bar as I followed him into the bar.

Raul immediately went to the back, no doubt to see Donnie's father who was one of his closest friends.

I walked to the bar, still stuffing my face with as much candy as humanly possible, "Hello," I greeted Sarah, Donnie's mother.

"Hello, dear," Sarah greeted with a smile, "I haven't seen you in a quite a while where have you been?"

I sighed, "Well, you know my mother. I'll let you put two and two together." I rolled my eyes as she put clean glasses behind the counter.

She let out a small burst of laughter she tried to stifle, clearing her throat a little, "Yes, I can imagine," she winked, "how did you break out?"

"Raul, he had to make some deliveries. Thankfully he dragged me with him," I plopped myself down in an empty barstool some ways down as Sarah walked away to help someone.

I dug through the bag trying to find something with nuts and chocolate. I happily bounced in my seat giggling like a manic as I unwrapped another candy bar.

I took the biggest bite I could manage, knowing there was way too much food in my mouth to be polite, but not at all caring.

Raul yelled at me from the back, calling me to help him with something. I ignored him for the first few yells that drifted my way.

I heard Raul walk up behind me, I could tell he was about to say something; probably complain that I hadn't come running at his first bellow.

I turned and started smacking him with my bag of candy, "I don't want to help you!" I yelled with a mouth full of candy.

I continued to smack him, not surprised by the laughter that was erupting from him. He was a sadist or something, he always thought it was funny when I physically abused him.

I suddenly stopped when I noticed that his laugh was all wrong, I looked up in horror when I realized this was not my brother.

"I'm sworry," I said, hand over my mouth hoping not to spew food over this person. I looked at him for the first time, since I thought it was Raul I didn't really pay attention to him.

I turned red as I recognized the man in front of me, it was the pirate from earlier this week. I pulled the bag of candy I'd been assaulting him with close to my body. In absolute shock that he was right here face to face with me. And that I had just beat him senseless with a bag of sugary treats.

I swallowed the mouthful of candy hard, "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else! I-I..." I lost my train of thought as I realized he and I were within an arms length of each other. He was so much larger up close.

He continued to laugh and the sound turned my legs to Jello. I just wanted to shrivel up and disappear, "You dropped this," his grin widened into a full blow smile as he waved my new pink hankie in front of my face.

My mind stopped for a second, "Where did you get that?"

He laughed, "You're not very good at listening are you? I already said: you dropped it."

I gave him a confused look. I shook my head, signaling I still had no idea what he was talking about.

"On the beach? You were with another woman, I think she was blond," he was still smiling and it was making me feel warm and fuzzy. He really was the most attractive person I'd ever seen.

My mind gasped, 'Oh, that... oh, shit, I can't believe he remembered that.' I was about to open my mouth to say something, but quickly closed it, fearing I'd say something so unbelievably stupid he'd think I was retarded or something.

I just gave him a polite smile and reached out to get my hankie back. His eyes squeezed shut happily as a toothy grin spread across his face.

My hand was about to close around my hankie when he pulled it up and out of my reach. He laughed hardily as he waved it above my head. I jumped up to snatch it from him a few times before a voice in my head said 'what the hell are you doing? You look retarded, stop it!'

My eyes widened and for a second I was having an out of body experience, I could see myself hopping up and down trying to get that stupid pink square out of his hand as he continued to tease me.

I stopped before I looked like a complete idiot, "May I have that back, please?" I asked tight lipped.

His eyes open at he looked me up and down for an instant making me feel slightly naked, "Naw, I don't think so."

"What!?" I squeaked, "it's mine!"

"Well, I was going to give it back," he gave me a smile that made my insides feel twisted and tight, "but you decided to be mean and beat me up... I think I'm gonna keep this for my troubles."

"It's mine," I said weakly, "it's new, I just got it," I trailed off pathetically.

"Well, I did find it on the beach... what's that phrase? Finders keepers?" He grinned still waving the pink material over my head.

"Losers weepers!" Raul finished loudly with a bark-ish laugh.

I closed my eyes and willed myself to not choke my giant bastard of a brother-in-law.

Raul walked up behind me laughing, he grabbed my shoulders and shook me, "Ya lose! Hahaha, Loser!"

I gave him a look that said I'd kill him in about 3 seconds if he didn't shut the hell up, he sighed, "Well,

we should gets goin, huh?"

He walked toward the door, waving to Donnie's father as he left.

The black haired man turned to me, "Who's that?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Why do you care?" I didn't mean for so much attitude to slip out.

He let out a boisterous laugh, "Not very many people are brave enough to talk to me like that."

"You must have quite an ego to say something like that," I answered with my hand on my hip, trying to calm my heart beat, I thought for sure he could hear it, it was so loud.

He chose to ignore my statement, "So who's the guy? Husband? Boyfriend?"

Was he fishing for information!? I sighed, hoping my face wasn't as red as it felt. His gaze felt like it was seeing straight into my soul, "Brother-in-law," I answered in a bored voice.

His interest seemed to peak, "Is that so?" I noticed he stuffed my hankie in his pocket.

"Are you going to give me back my handkerchief?"

"Nope, I think I'll keep it!" His smile melted my heart, I'd figure out how to tell mother I'd already lost it.

I gave him another look, letting him know that I was annoyed with him.

He looked a bit sheepish, "How about we make a deal?" I waited for him to continue, "You let me keep this," he pulled it from his pocket and brandished it at me, "and I'll give you mine."

I gave him a disgusted look, "It's never been used! Honestly, I'm not so uncouth as to give you a dirty one," he smiled again.

He handed me his blue, silk handkerchief, chuckling.

I took it reluctantly, glad no one was really around to see this transaction, if so, my mother would hear about it before I even got home and then I'd never hear the end of it. I wouldn't have been surprised if she never let me out of the house ever again.

"RORO! LET'S GO!" my brother yelled from the front doors.

I gave the man a stupid smile and ran out after Raul before he – or I – could say anything more.

We walked home in silence. Something that was hard to get around Raul. I decided this needed to be sorted out before we got home.

"Listen, I know it looks bad, but really nothing's going on. But let's still just keep this between you and me, alright?" I clasped my hands in front of me, begging him, my bag of candy swinging in my hand.

"I don't knows what ya talk about," he said seriously.

Okay, he was kinda dumb, but not this stupid, "Why are you playing dumb?" I asked with my hands perched on my hips.

"I wasn't aware I was playin at stupid," he turned and gave me a devilish grin.

"Oh. My. Gods. You knew he was going to be there and set me up, didn't you!?" I asked in horror.

He laughed so hard he held his middle and almost lost his cooler, "Now, I never wents and said that..."

"But you did!" I pointed an accusing finger at him.

He put his large hands up defensively, "I didn't knows which one he was, I just figured he was there and that ya wants ta see 'im again."

I glared daggers at him, "I hate you." We both knew I really didn't.

"Well, we just gots to keep it 'tween ya an' me, right?" He smiled again, "I thinks he likes you, lots."

"Shut up!" I slapped his arm, thankful that he was on my side, "He's still a pirate."

He shrugged, "So what?" he smiled, "Better than some boring fisherman rights?"

"You're a boring fisherman, remember?" I rolled my eyes, yeah, that stupid facade was totally blown away.

"Yeah, but I choose ta be a boring fisher, it's whats I love, gots my kids and ya sister. I'm happy," he finished simply.

"Yeah," I agreed, thinking that I really didn't care anymore what my family thought. After really meeting that pirate I liked him even more. As embarrassed he'd made me, I'd had fun. Most of all, I knew that he _had_ been thinking of me. I suppressed a giggle.

Raul and I walked home and pretended that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. For the first time in a long time I smiled on the inside as well as the outside.

I hooked my arm through Raul's like I used to when I was a little girl, "Thanks," I whispered, "and if you tell, I will kill you."

He laughed happily as he ruffled up my hair.

/\................................................................/

Whoot! There's chapter 3! hope you like it!

We finally meet Gol D. Roger! More to come! Please review and Tell me what you think!

Ps, I hate writing Raul I want to fix his grammar soooo bad, but it's part of his character, so I've learned to love him.


	4. at sissy's house

A Life Without Regret, A Love Without Fear

Chapter 4

By: Shironami

Raul and I continued to walk not really talking about anything important; mostly he talked and I tuned him out.

"Can we go to your house?" I asked, interrupting whatever he was saying.

"My house?" He drawled.

"Yeah, I don't want to go home yet," I said shrugging.

"Sure, what do I cares?" We walked to the fork in the road and instead of taking the right road that led to my house and the shore, we took the left that went uphill.

After 10 minutes uphill on a path that twisted and turned we were led to Raul and Marie's home. It was a nice 4 bedroom 2 bath that Raul and Father had built themselves over about 2 years.

Celeste was playing in the front yard with her pet... thing. No one knew what it was or where it came from. It was small and yellow and made happy little squeaking noises as it ran in circles on its four small paws as she chased it around.

She caught it and it squealed happily as she hugged it close to her small body and pet its long, fuzzy tail, "DADDY!" She came bolting toward us, arms outstretched to Raul, the little thing she called, Pokey now perched on her upper back, head poking over her shoulder, fuzzy ears moving as it listened to everything around it.

Raul laughed hardily as he scooped her up into his large arms, "Thar's me Baby!"

She squeezed him around the neck, "I love you!" she giggle to him.

He spun her around, "I loves ya too!"

He kissed her on the cheek, "What ya been ups ta?"

"Just playin, me and Pokey was playin tag," her eyes lit up, "do you want to play wif us too, Daddy?"

"Maybe laters, I'm gonna sees if your mom needs anythin," he put her down, patting her on the top of her little copper head, the older she got the more sure I was that she was his little clone.

They were just so alike, not just with their clear, hazel eyes and dark coppery locks. She also had his chubby face and large build. She had his personality as well. I just kept thanking the gods that she didn't have his speech patterns. I don't think I could handle that. Honestly, I don't think Marie could either.

Raul put his daughter down, "I'm gonna sees if Marie wants anythings," he said to me, "I'll sees ya laters."

I smiled as he waved goodbye to me and I walked to Celeste.

"Hi, Auntie Roro," Celeste bounced up to me and hugged me around the hips, "what were you doing wif Daddy?"

"I was helping him with his deliveries, we went to the market and Borges' restaurant. Nothing special."

I took her hand and she skipped besides me as we walked up the stairs to the porch, "Where's Bernadette? Is she around?"

The small child huffed, "Yeah... somewheres," she was clearly upset with her older sister.

"What did she do to make you upset?" I asked her.

She looked at me with a face that reminded me so fully of her father that I almost laughed out loud, "She's mean! I don't like her anymore!" She said crossing her little chubby arms over her chest and closed her eyes, a frown marring her cute face.

"I'm sure you don't mean that," I smiled at her.

"oh, no... I do!" she said with emotion so deep it was a little scary. Kids this young should have so much built up anger.

I pushed open the screen door, "Well, I'm sure the two of you will work out what ever happened. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding, you should go and talk to her about it."

She gave me a scathing look, "She can come and talk to me! I wasn't the one who was mean!"

"Well, why, don't you and Pokey go and play, alright?" I wondered if Marie knew about this, I made a mental note to tell her later, in case this continued and the girls needed a mediator.

She grinned ear to ear and ran off with Pokey in tow.

I shrugged and walked through the dinning room looking for my sister, "Marie?" I called out, looking around.

Her head popped out from around a corner, "Hey, there you are," she smiled like she knew something. My eyes narrowed. I loved how everyone thought I was so stupid I wouldn't notice them acting different when they tried to keep secrets.

I smiled at her, "So, you think you know something don't you?" I sighed, "well, if it's about Zane plucking his eyebrows – that's no secret."

She giggled, "Obviously not, _no one_ has eyebrows _that_ perfect," she gave me a mysterious smile.

"Well, what is it then?" I asked getting impatient, maybe it was something about Blanche, or maybe she heard something about that boy Fleur liked.

"Oh, come on! Don't play stupid!" She poked me in the forehead.

I frowned, "What?" She knew something about... me?

"Raul told me already... so just spit it out!" She dragged me to the living room and pushed me onto the sofa, she sat besides me, "I want to know everything!"

She watched me expectedly, practically bouncing in her chair with anticipation, "Raul... told...you? I don't have any secrets. Well, except this," I held up my bag of candy, "but it's not really a secret..." I lamely trailed off.

She smacked me across the arm, "Not that, stupid! He told me about the pirate at Sarah's tavern," she grinned and pulled at my arm.

"He did what?" That bastard! He promised not to say anything, great now I'm gonna have to kill him, "Look, it wasn't anything. We just talked a little... less than a little, it wasn't even talking, more like... smiling with words at each other," I nodded to myself.

"Dear, that's called a conversation," she said to me slowly as if I was too stupid to understand what she said if she spoke it faster, "now tell me what you talked about!"

"Nothing, he just remember me from the beach, he had my hankie," I rolled my eyes, really not a huge deal Marie.

"Oh, he kept it! How sweet!" She clasped her hands in front of her.

Yeah... sweet, he only tried to blackmail me with it... sorta. I sighed, why did everyone have to be in my business?

"Stupid pirate refused to give it back and now I'm going to have to tell Mama what happened when she notices it's gone," I let out a grief-stricken moan, "She's gonna kill me! It's all Raul's fault! He knew pirates were going to be there and he hoped I'd run into that idiot there!"

"Yeah, that sounds like him; look, Mama won't notice your hankie's gone as long as you don't bring attention to the fact that it is," she said wisely.

"I guess that makes sense, but still..." I put my head in my hands.

"You worry too much. That was nice of Raul to try to fix you up with your little cabin boy," she smiled serenely at me.

"Yeah, nice..." my voice dripped sarcasm, "Just like how it's going to be nice of me not to lob off his head."

"Did you and your little cabin boy get along?" she asked hopefully, why I didn't know.

I thought for a second, "He's not all that little...Kinda old to be a cabin boy too. Unless he's a horrible pirate."

Marie's mouth pulled down at the corners, "How old do you thing he is?"

I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about this, "I don't know, older than me... maybe around your age."

"That is kinda old to be a cabin boy, I don't know why but I was picturing a little guy; you know, short, skinny, 15-ish," she shrugged back at me.

I laughed, "He's not little, he's huge. I bet he's even bigger than Raul." I readjusted myself on the sofa and smoothed out my dress.

"Was he nice?" She asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "Well, he wasn't a totally asshole. But he's not what I'd call a gentleman either."

"Hum, well, he is a pirate and they aren't known for their manners. What do you mean when you say 'not a total asshole'?"

"Ah! The bastard made fun of me!" I said as if it was the worst possible thing that could be done to me.

"That's it?" Marie asked with an eyebrow raised totally disappointed.

"Well, yeah... He held my hankie up above my head and I jumped to grab it like and idiot and he laughed at me!" yeah, I guess that's not so bad, Raul's done worse. But Raul didn't give me butterflies in my stomach and sweaty palms.

"If he wanted to give you back the hankie why did you let him keep it?"

"He was going to give it back but decided he was gong to keep it 'for his trouble'," I rolled my eyes doing a bad impersonation of his deep, rough voice.

"Why is it the more I like him, the less I can stand him?" I accidentally asked out loud.

Marie laughed, "I think that's normal, maybe you just need to get to know him better. Wait, why did he want to keep it for his trouble?" She gave me a slight look, "did you do something?" she whispered, knowing my temper and slight lack of self control.

I looked down at me feet, "I kinda, might have... just a little." I shrugged, dismissing my little... episode as nothing.

"What did you do? He doesn't hate you does he?" She asked quietly, her hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

I shrugged, "I don't think so, he kept laughing."

"So what did you do?" she said going right back to where I didn't want her to go.

"Okay, look here's the thing," I took a deep breath, "I thought he was Raul, they're both big and Raul was yelling at me from the back and I was ignoring him, so I thought he'd come out to force me to help him. Only it wasn't him, and I didn't realize until after I was done."

"Done?" She asked mortified, "Done doing what!?"

I sighed and looked at me feet as I confessed, "I beat him with my bag of candy," I whispered.

She sat there for a moment just staring at me, then she burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

"Alright, that enough," I said after a good few minutes.

She was gasping for air, " I can see you doing that!"

I gave her a scathing look, "It's not funny! I was so embarrassed! I wanted to crawl under a rock and die! And here you are laughing!"

"I'm sorry, really I am! It's just so funny!" She started laughing again, harder than last time, as she was trying to calm herself down she let out a very unladylike snort. She slapped her hand to her mouth laughing even harder, tears leaking from her eyes.

I laughed at her snort, "You snorted!" I yelled pointing at her. We both dissolved into hysterics, marie grabbed my arms, "I snorted!" she said slightly shaking me.

"Okay, okay, stop! My sides hurt!" I said grasping myself around the middle.

Marie put her hands to her face, "Oh, it hurts! Oh, you should have warned me before you said anything," she rubbed her cheeks still chuckling.

"Ahhhh," I rubbed my aching sides, "You can't tell Mama about this, she'd be furious! She told me not to go near those pirates."

Marie gave me a sympathetic look, "Do you remember when she first meet Raul?"

I frowned, "No, not really."

"I guess you wouldn't, you were still a little girl when he showed up."

"What happened?" I asked very curious.

"She hated him!" She grinned, "She said he was uncouth, rude, had no manners and was nothing but a big brute and we didn't even know where he came from," she shook her head, "She told me I forbidden to be around him, she didn't even want me knowing his name."

"Wow," I said sarcastically, "That went just as she wanted didn't it?"

Marie giggle and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, she didn't want me anywhere near him and now I sleep in his bed."

I smiled, "Raul 17; Mama 2. For being kinda dumb, his tally is way more than hers is."

She smiled, "Well, I don't think he's as stupid as he pretends to be."

I thought back over the last few hours, "I think you're right. He's one crafty SOB."

"What did he look like?" She asked referring to the pirate.

"Raul?" I asked stupidly.

"No! The pirate!"

"Oh... well. Um," I thought for a second, "Well, he is very large, his hair is thick and black. His eyes are like coal, I've never seen such dark eyes before. His smile is broad and sharp, he has perfect, white teeth. He seemed to be really care-free. He laughs a lot too, he always seems happy." I shrugged as if something was wrong with a person who happened to be happy.

"He sounds attractive," Marie observed, "What did he sound like?"

I laughed, "Not like Raul, if that's what you're asking!" I thought for a second, "He has a deep voice, kinda loud, but not really offensive. I didn't feel like telling him to shut up... well I think I did, but not for that reason. He used big words! He didn't seem stupid or anything. I'm not sure why he wants to be a pirate in the first place. I bet he'd make a good businessman or something."

"Maybe you should ask him next time you see him. He seems really interesting. I wonder what his position on the ship is?" Marie brought her finger to her chin in thought.

"Position?" I asked.

"Yeah, pirates all have jobs on the ships they sail on. Some work in the galley, some work on the ship its self, fixing repairs and such. Some man the cannons, some work the sails. They also have rank within the ship too."

"Wow," I said surprised, "When did you become such an expert on pirates?"

She laughed, "Raul tells the kids stories, I listen in sometimes. He knows lots of stories about the navy too. He used to tell you the same tales he tells the girls, I'm surprised you don't remember them, you'd listen to them for hours."

"Really?" I asked, not remembering any of what she was talking about.

She smiled at me, "You used to tell me you loved the romance of them, the adventure and that you wanted to sail when you grew up," she laughed, "You wanted to be a marine!"

I gasped, "No shit? Wow, I don't remember at all!"

She shrugged, "I'm not surprised, you told Mama once and all hell broke loose. I thought she was going to tie you up in your room and not let you out till you were successfully married off. She said no daughter of hers was going to be sailing the seas like some ruffian." Marie shrugged, "She started putting you in frilly dresses and steering you away from anything she thought was too masculine. Raul made you a few wooden boats, cute little things, they even floated when you put them in water. She took them away the second she found them stuffed under the mattress of your bed," she shook her head sadly, "You cried for ages. You loved those little things so much."

"I wonder where Raul heard all those stories" I asked, trying to remember them myself.

She shrugged a perplexed look on her face, "I'm not sure, I've always thought he was a marine and decided to stay here after we met."

I laughed, "I can see him floating around, being chased by pirates. It kinda would explain a lot wouldn't it?"

She nodded. We both stood up, "Well, I'd better get home," I sighed, "Mama might think I was kidnapped if I don't get home soon."

Marie laughed, "Sure, well, thanks for stopping by," she smiled nudging me, "and if you see that pirate again, I'm the first person you're going to tell it about!"

I rolled my eyes, "You're the _only_ person that will know about it."

I stopped, "Oh, and before I forget, Celeste and Bernadette are having some kind of fight, just in case you didn't know."

"I didn't, thanks... I'll keep an eye on them to make sure it doesn't get out of control."

We walked through the dinning room and I saw Raul rummaging through the fridge through the open doorway that led to the kitchen.

I frowned at him, "Hey, tattle tale! Don't think this is going to go unpunished! And you'd better not breathe a word of this to anyone!"

His laughed bounced off the walls of the kitchen, "It ain't none of me businesses, I jus' told Marie cause I figures ya wouldn't."

He walked toward us with a bottle in his hand, "No matters what your Mama be sayin', I thinks ya should goes fer it. Ya be hard pressed ta finds a man like thats aroun' here."

He patted my head and raised his bottle in a funny little salute, "Jus' sayin'."

Raul bent down and pecked Marie on the cheek. He gave me a wink and walked away with a triumphant grin on his face.

I shook my head, "That man's an enigma," I turned and gave my sister a hug, "I'll see you soon, love you Sissy."

"Love ya too," she squeezed my hand, "You know, I think Raul's right. If you really like this guy, don't let Mama or Daddy stop you. You've never been one to like the quiet, boring life. You should go find the adventure that you lost back then. You're much happier when you talk about him, even when you sound angry with him."

I sighed, "You think so?" I was so uncertain about everything.

She smiled, "You can't let them tell you how to be happy. Do what you feel like you should in your heart. Don't worry about anyone else."

I gave her a final hug on the porch and she waved to me as I walked down the steps.

I heard to door shut from behind me.

Celeste was still playing in the yard, her and that thing of hers were digging holes in the dirt, "What are you doing?"

She looked up happily, "We're digging for treasures! Wanna help us look?"

I sighed a little, sure her parents wouldn't be too happy with her digging up their grass, "Do your parents know you're doing this?"

"Yeah! Daddy's the one who buried the treasures! Look, Daddy gave me this treasure mat!" She waved a paper in front of me. It was written in Raul's scratchy hand writing and colored with crayons, I was surprised how accurate it was, even down to the placement of trees and the size of the house. What shocked me even more was that he didn't write like he talked, I could actually understand it!

It had her going all over the yard, three steps this way, turn ½ way so you face the ocean. Take 20 steps, ect. This thing had her going back and forth so many times, twisting and turning, I'm surprised she wasn't dizzy.

She leaned in closer to my waist, where I was holding the map.

"We're right here on the mat," She pointed to a spot in the yard.

I raised an eyebrow, I could tell from the distance to the house and all the landmarks around us, she was right, "It's called a map, sweetheart."

She smiled at me, "Map," she repeated, "we're gonna get the treasures!" she pointed to her hole in the ground.

She pulled me hand, "Help us Auntie! We'll find the treasures t'gether!"

I let myself be dragged to the hole and I helped her dig out the earth.

"Oh! I think I found it!" She squealed as she pushed dirt off the top of a little wooden box. I sat back truly wondering what was in the thing.

She pulled it out of the hole that about 15 inches deep. She set it in between us, "What do you think the treasures are?" She whispered to me, eyes wide and sparkling with anticipation. Small shovel discarded beside her.

I shrugged, "I don't know, you'll have to open it to find out."

She pulled a key out of her pocket and showed it to me.

"Where did you get that?" I asked, she responded by pulling another map out of her pocket.

"I found this one before!" She looked at the map in her hand and smiled at me. Gods, her father had sent her on one hell of a treasure hunt, hadn't he?

"Open it," I urged, wanting to know what he'd stuffed into that box.

She put the little key in the lock and turned it. She pulled the the lock off and opened the little metal flap that kept the box from opening when locked. She peeked inside, "It's a paper!" she happily declared as she showed it to me.

"It's not another map is it?" I asked wearily, not putting it past him to send his child all over town with this little game.

"No, it doesn't look like one," she said examining it, "There are words on it, but I can't read 'em."

"How did you read the other one?" I asked, pretty sure she couldn't read at all.

"I didn't, I jus' followed the arrows and counted the dots," she pointed to what she spoke about on the paper. It was pretty ingenious, all she had to do was go the direction the arrows pointed whether they were telling her to go forward for just spin on the spot she was standing and count the dots and take that many steps in the direction it told her to.

"Can you read it to me please, Auntie?" she asked holding out the paper to me.

I nodded taking it from her, "Well, lets see... :

What you wish to acquire isn't far

You just need to look under the star

When the star you have found

Just listen for a familiar sound

With help from the sound find something round

Until what you seek is found

Round and shiny is your prize

just open it and find a surprise"

I finished, I shrugged, "I have no idea what this means."

She frowned at me, "I think I do."

"Really?" I felt a little stupid, being outwitted by a 3 and a half year old.

"There's a star on Ber'dette's bed. Daddy put it there a long time ago, it pretty and sparkles," She huffed annoyed, "and the only thing in our room that makes _sound_ is Bernie. Daddy wants me to have her help look for it in our room."

I smiled to myself, yep, he's one crafty SOB, "Are you going to ask her? You might not find it on your own."

"I have to, that's wha' it says to do! Daddy says I haffta do all tha' they say! Or I won't get the treasures." She hugged my goodbye and stomped off to find her sister, I was pretty sure she'd forget that she was angry when they started combing their room together.

I shook my head at Raul once again, there was no way in Hell that man was stupid. Every time I thought I had him figured out he did something to blow me away. My father never would have thought of anything like that.

I closed the fence gate behind me and stared back down the hill to the fork in the road.

I kept thinking of that pirate and what both Marie and Raul had told me. I can't believe they told me to just ignore what our parents wanted for me. I was at a stand still in my own mind.

Sure I wanted to be happy, but I wanted to please my folks too. If I stayed I'd more than likely be married to a man like Zane. Something I was not really looking forward to. He wasn't nearly as warm and friendly with his family as Raul was. He was like Papa, hardworking, serious, humorless and a bit boring. Raul had his moments of complete idiocy but I had fun with him and he loved my sister to pieces, if something happened to her I'm not sure if he'd be okay.

I wanted to be loved like that, so utterly and completely, not just be someone's wife, but their life. The more I thought about it the less sure I was that I'd find that love here.

I walked down the fork that led me home. So familiar, I could walk this path with my eyes closed and not so much as trip once.

I sighed to myself and my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of people arguing.

I stopped as I watched two kids fighting with one another, I decided to listen just to stall. I still had no desire to return home.

"Stupid!" he shoved the other.

"No, you're stupid! Only someone dumb would think yellow apples are better than red ones!"

"You just have no taste!" Said the one with the purple beanie over his bright blue hair as he shoved his companion once more.

"Psh, me have no taste!? You're the one who'll shovel just about anything into that gaping hole you call a mouth!" Said the other, who had a funny straw hat over his shock of bright red hair.

They were funny little kids, maybe about 10 or 11, they kept pushing and shoving eachother as they argued about apples.

"Well, at least I don't have a stupid looking nose!" the straw-hat kid said, pointing to first the other kids nose then his own.

"What!? How dare you say things about my nose! I'll strangle you!" The blue-haired kid screamed with fury.

Wow, that kid did have one hell of a nose. How did he breathe with that thing? How did I miss that!? It's just so _there_.

The kid with the straw hat laughed, "I'd love to see you try, Buggy! You'd probably get top heavy and fall flat on your face! I wonder if you did, if your nose would make a honking sound!?" He continued to laugh as the child dubbed 'Buggy' ran at him with a knife in his hands.

My eyes widened, okay, not fun anymore. I ran to the kids and pushed them apart, "What the hell are you two doing!? Are you trying to kill each other?" I pointed to the knife, "Put that thing away!"

Buggy put it back in it's hidden place, "Of course I'm trying to kill him! What do you care anyways?" the kid kicked a rock with his toe.

I stopped, "Well, I guess I don't really care. But this isn't the place for this sort of thing."

The kid with the straw hat smiled at me, "It's cool, Ol' Man Rayleigh said to meet him in the tavern, we're on our way there now." He said as if he hadn't just been charged at with a sharp, dangerous weapon.

I just hummed a response, "Well, alright... just don't get into trouble! People aren't very happy you're here. You don't want to make an even worse impression than they already have of you."

The red haired kid laughed, "We're pirates, what do we care what others think of us?"

I just nodded, the kid had a point, he smiled again, "I'm Shanks, Red Nose here's Buggy."

Buggy balled his fists and looked like he was about to choke his friend... if they were friends, which I was kinda sure they weren't.

"I'm Rouge, maybe you should stop calling him names?" I suggested.

The kid laughed, did they all laugh so much?

"Where's the fun in that?" Shanks motioned to Buggy to come along, "Well, we'd better go, Rayleigh can get pretty pissed if we dawdle."

Buggy followed the other child up the path to town, about 10 seconds after they left I could hear them arguing about something else. I couldn't really tell what, there was just a lot of name calling and smacking back and forth.

I shook my head and sighed, just watching them exhausted me, I wondered how their crew put up with it.

I walked up the steps and opened the front door, hoping Fleur wasn't around to see my bag of sweets and inquire as to what they were.

I sneaked upstairs to my room and hid my candy before anyone was the wiser.

It had been one long, strange day.

….....

End of chapter 4! Yay Shanks and Buggy! Since my story's gonna cover several years I thought I'd make them younger too! I wish I knew more about Gold rogers crew, but alas I don't. Lol. This was a fun chapter! I loved writing it. I love Raul with his kids! He's an awesome Daddy! Thanks for reading please review and thanks to the people that reviewed my last chapter!

whimsicalheart

Krentenbol

XxstrawberrykittyxX

irenia

-totallycrazy-

yay! Thanks so much! And don't forget to review! They make me happy and keep me writing faster!


	5. Old and New Friends

Hello all! God I know it's been along time. But here I am with the latest chapter of my Rouge story. I had this almost done when I killed my comp and we had my hard drive and I was going to pull it off so I could finish it but that didn't go as planned, so I finally decided to just rewrite the whole bloody thing.

And we should all say hello to my new comp I've named it Tsubaki! My last one was Ginkishi. But I killed poor Ginkishi. I had to wait like 3 months to get a new one. So I'm happy, kinda... it's a netbook and they are tiny and kinda stripped down. But I can write so who cares!! and now on to chapter 5 of this bitch! Oh, and I want to thank all the people that have encouraged me to continue this little piece of crap story, I totally would have abandoned it if not for you hounding me to finish!

DISCLAIMER: Don't own OP don't make money off this crap story, just write it for fun, get off my back!

A Life Without Regret, a Love Without Fear

By: Shironami

I was glad when day finally broke and Mama started yelling at us from downstairs to get up and moving. I had slept badly, I tossed and turned all night and when I finally slept I had weird dreams.

I tossed my clothes on and ran downstairs to get breakfast. It had dawned a beautiful day and my sisters and their families would be here soon.

The new boat Papa and the boys had started last year was almost finished and we were going to start making the sails for it today. It would be a few more weeks before the boat was done but Mama said she wanted to finish as soon as possible.

We sat around the table eating breakfast while Papa and Mama talked about how big the sail should be and other such details I totally tuned out.

After we finished eating we pulled out all the looms and everything we would need to create the main sail that would give the boat the power it would need to pull forward.

About the time everything was set up my sisters and their mini armies arrived. Papa and my bothers went out to the stretch of beach they had chosen to build the boat on and told us they'd see us later.

Mama and Blanche sat next to each other and talked about things mothers and daughters talk about, with Blanche's oldest daughter between them, helping whenever they asked.

Fleur, Marie and myself were huddled in a loose half-circle each working our own loom. We talked about the usual just to pass the time.

I huffed angrily as I noticed I'd messed up my work about three rows down. I shook my head as I un-wove my work to the point were I'd picked up two of the weft threads with my shuttle instead of just the one. I started moving my shuttle faster as I got into my rhythm again. It was slightly boring and repetitive work; slip the shuttle under the weft, then over, then under, then over, until you were at the end of the row. Then you beat the weft into place and start over again.

It took the better part of ten minutes but I finally was back to where I started, I looked over at Marie and was shocked (okay, maybe not totally shocked) to see she had added like 7 inches of finished work to her loom. I had never seen anyone that was as good at weaving as Marie was. Her hands moved with fluid grace as she continued unabated.

I could only imagine how easy this was for her, she was used to making fine tapestries and elaborate patterns. Just a plain white piece of canvas must have been a breeze for her. I was the worst out of all us girls, I couldn't weave to save my life. Just in the last few years had I been able to make something that wasn't completely horrible. But I still had a habit of pulling the shuttle too tight or not tight enough and having my work look all lopsided, or working too many warp threads at a time. Something I never heard the end of, my sisters loved making fun of my awful weaving... and I couldn't really blame them.

But we all had the things we were good at and the things we weren't. Fleur was a great cook, she could make just about anything. Some of her baking was better than Mama's, not that I was ever going to tell Mama that. Blanche could sing so beautifully and her crocheted work was better than anyone else on the island; and I was pretty good at sewing, I could fix almost anything so it didn't look repaired and create anything I could think up in my mind.

For the dozenth time that day I found my mind drifting toward that man again, I could feel his hankie burning a hole in my pocket. Of course I knew it wasn't on fire but I felt it was screaming at me so loudly I was sure my mother would turn and ask what the ruckus was all about.

Despite how hard I tried not to, I found my hand slipping into my apron pocket and feeling the silky fabric. It reminded me of soft, flowing water. It was the color of water too. It looked so expensive to me, but maybe that was just my county bumpkin background thinking.

I heaved a giant sigh and continued my work, not really paying attention to what my sisters were saying just nodding my head when it seemed like I should.

Bernadette walked up to her mother, "Mom, what are you doing?"

Marie smiled, "We're making sails for the ship Grandpapa's making. It won't go anywhere without sails."

Bernadette leaned in closer, "How do you do it?"

"Come here," Marie pulled the child onto her lap, "like this."

She demonstrated how to weave and how to work the shuttle and beater. After a few minutes Bernadette was working the loom all on her own.

Fleur laughed, "Wow, she really caught on to that pretty fast didn't she!"

I shrugged, "Well, look at who her mother is. I'd been surprised if she _didn't_ pick it up."

Raul happened to walk by with an impossibly large plank of wood over his shoulder.

"Honey, would you get the spare loom out for Bernadette?" Marie asked her husband, though it sounded more like a request.

He smiled and nodded, "Sure." He waved to Bernadette to tell her to come with him.

They toddled out of sight as I watched them go, "So," I asked Marie, "how long before she gets bored of this and moves on to the next big thing?"

Marie smiled, "Oh, I'm not so sure she will get bored of it, I mean once I teach her how to do patterns and other more advanced stuff. With all the things that can be done she might actually love it enough to do it all the time just for fun!" She shrugged, "remember how much I hated it at first, now it's one of my favorite things to do!"

Fleur smiled sweetly, "Well, you always did like boring things."

I laughed with Fleur as Marie tried vainly to defend herself.

Our laughter had died down by the time Raul and Bernie got back. He had lost the plank sometime between then and now, I had half a mind to ask him where he put it, knowing Mama wouldn't want some stray piece of wood laying around somewhere. But shrugged it off not really caring enough to make any effort to materialize my thoughts.

Raul set the loom up in between Marie and Fleur, they had a little more space between them than her and I. Even though she was learning we didn't want her to get in the way of our work.

It was no time at all before Bernie had a good seven or eight inches of work done, it was quality work too, not like what usually became of my loom-work. I'm not ashamed to say I was a little jealous of a seven-year-old. Her work was so much better than mine, I was ready to tell her to take over my loom and I'd go take the rest of the day off.

We continued chatting and working, Bernie sometimes adding in her two cents, she was feeling very grown-up at the moment, sitting with us working and talking about adult things as the young children played around us.

The sun was already high in the sky and we were starting to get hungry, Mama and Fleur stopped working and went inside to fix something to eat.

The boys decided to take a small break too, our work might have been tedious but theirs was laborious. They were drenched in sweat and looked tired.

Papa and Zane went inside for something to drink; not surprisingly, Raul was chasing around the kids as they ran and screamed excitedly. I really think he's a little kid stuck inside a grown man's body.

Marie got up and rushed to Nolan, who was crying and holding his bleeding elbow, that kid always seemed to be hurting himself.

I found myself alone and sighed a little, much to my dismay my mind started drifting off again, I'd sat here for so many years my hands were trained to work without my brain bothering to tell them what to do.

I smiled happily, coming out of my reverie as my Uncle sat beside me, "Hey, haven't seen you in a while! Where you been?"

I laughed and threw my arms around him, giving him a tight hug, "Me!? Where have you been!? I haven't seen you since before you all set out last time!"

He shrugged sheepishly, "I caught a cold on the ship, when we got home I went back to my house and been trying to get better. You know, you could have come and said hi to me... or did you totally forget that I existed?" He teased.

"Of course not! You're my very favorite uncle," I nodded solemnly.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah? Well, as far as I can remember, I'm your only uncle."

I batted my eyelashes a little, "That's why you're my favorite."

He rolled his eyes again, clearly not buying it, "If ya say so." He patted my head and walked toward the house, probably seeking out my parents.

Uncle was one of my favorite people, he reminded me a little of Raul, only he could be much more serious. He was my father's little brother, as of yet he hadn't married or had kids. I remember Mama saying once that he had been in love with Mrs. Valhurst, but she had rejected him and married the man who would eventually became the island mayor instead. Mama said he never got over her and has lived as a bachelor ever since.

I always thought she was crazy to reject him, he was nice and smart and would have made a good husband and father. I remember once when we were younger, Donnie and I tried to set him up with Donnie's auntie who was also never married. It would have been a wonderful marriage, at least we thought so... too bad they didn't. Ever since then I've stayed out of his love-life... Mama said she'd hang me if I didn't.

I looked over to see Marie walking back inside the house holding Nolan who was still crying and bleeding.

Most of the kids followed her, concerned about their brother and cousin.

I sighed to myself, I was now all alone with my thoughts again, I hadn't realized I'd pulled the hankie out of my pocket and was holding it in my hands. I stuffed it back to where it belonged as fast as I could. Hoping I hadn't had it out for too long.

I figured what the hell and got up to follow Marie when someone calling out my name distracted me.

My eyes followed the path down to the gate that ran along the border of our property, "Donnie!" I yelled out to him happily, "what are you doing?" I waved excitedly at him.

He grinned and hopped the low white fence, running to meet my half way, his hair flying behind him, "Ro! Wow, it's been a while, what are you doing?"

I waved my arm over the scattered looms and piles of finished canvas, "What does it look like?" I asked sarcastically.

"Oh," he nodded with his hand cupping his chin, "yes, I see... your favorite thing in the whole wide world," he started to look around, for what I didn't know.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Sure, I love this more than life it self. If I died behind a loom I'd have lived a full and perfect life," I returned his sarcasm full force.

"Okay, I can't tell which ones are yours," he pointed to the piles scattered around, "normally it's so easy cause they're the ones that look like a blind two-year-old did them."

I was about to get pissed off and give him a sound, well deserved smack, but thought he was right and it was a waste of my energy anyway.

I sighed, "I know, right," I shrugged, "I haven't finished a block of canvas yet," I confessed.

He grinned at me, a playful look in his sky blue eyes, "Well, that's for the best. We wouldn't want the whole sail falling apart now would we?"

I glared a bit, "I'm not that bad!"

"Keep telling yourself that," he smiled at me again, then started walking toward the house, "your mama let you out and about yet? Mami said she saw you and Raul yesterday. Wanna do something? I have to pick some cherries for Mami wanna come?" He pushed his long, auburn bangs out of his face and pulled his hair into a ponytail high on the back of his head.

"Ooh, I would so love to! But I'm not sure what Mama will say. I had to beg her to let me go with Raul."

He was still playing with his long, thick, loose curls, trying to get them in the ponytail all at once, I giggled when he again missed and he had a long, stray lock of hair that was hanging from the back of his head, "Crap, I should just chop it all off," he tried once more and finally got it, "well, tell her you'll bring some back for her."

"Hmm, that's a great idea, I can bribe her with food!" I clapped happily.

We walked to the kitchen, Donnie waving and saying greetings to everyone. Mama was at the stove stirring a pot of whatever and Blanche was at the sink washing carrots.

Mama turned and saw Donnie, "Hello dear, how have you been? It's been so long since you stopped by. What brings you here today?" she asked sweetly.

I grinned, Mama was always charmed by Donnie, and we both knew it. She thought he was the greatest kid she'd ever met. I was sure she was hoping he and I would end up married, I wasn't going to pop her happy dream bubble by telling her he was gay. If she couldn't tell by herself, well... it was just too obvious. Half the time Donnie looked better than I did, he dressed better and was far more concerned with what he looked like than I ever was. He always said every gay guy needed a Butch best friend... He had me assume that role, gay or not, much to my dismay. It didn't really matter how often I told him I wasn't lesbian, he thought I was just in denial or something.

"Well, Mrs Portgas, my mother has sent me to go get some cherries from the orchards, I just wanted to know if Rouge could go with me?" He asked politely, turning his charm up to the max.

Mama giggled and waved her big wooden spoon at him, "Of course she can! If it's with you I just don't see a problem. Just promise to stay out of trouble and stay away from those awful pirates!"

I smiled at Donnie, man he could read my mother like a book sometimes, "We'll be very careful, I promise," he gave her a wink and a charming smile.

She giggled again, "Be sure to bring me back some, I've been needing to make jam for a while now. And a fresh cherry pie sounds wonderful."

We thanked her and waved goodbye, running out of the house full force before she changed her mind.

I stopped and grabbed my collecting baskets on the way out.

It was no time before we were on our way to the orchards, I'd never felt so free in my life! I was happily skipping down the cobblestone road with Donnie beside me as we laughed and joked.

We stopped at the old worn out fence and entered the cherry orchard. Cherries were my favorite fruit, we looked around to see if there were any that weren't too picked through. I pointed to the east.

"How about over there? They still look nice and full," I started walking in the direction of the trees, Enjoying the smell of summer and cherries. It was a nice peaceful afternoon, the birds were high in the sky or sitting in trees singing to each other.

Donnie followed smiling and doing bird calls to confuse the poor creatures.

I dropped my basket to the ground and climbed up the nearest tree.

I perched myself on a high branch that was heavy with fruit. I picked what I could reach and dropped them into a bowl I'd made with my apron, when it was all full I'd carefully drop them down to Donnie who caught them in the collecting baskets.

We continued to talk about nothing as the afternoon wore on, it was wonderful just being outside, doing something I loved without anybody around to babysit me or judge my actions.

I put a few more cherries in my apron and popped a couple in my mouth, Donnie had decided I was being too slow and sat down beside his baskets and pulled out a few sandwiches. He ate and I started dropping cherries one by one into his basket that was sitting on the ground.

"Oi! Be careful! You're gonna bruise them all doing that," He pointed at me accusingly.

I rolled my eyes, "It's only like 3 feet more than where you were holding it up anyway! They'll be fine, stop nitpicking."

He started complaining again and I spit out a few cherry seeds at him to shut him up, I was very pleased when they hit him square in the face, one bounced off his cheek and the other off his nose. I giggled at the little slobbery stains they left behind.

He didn't find this as amusing as I did and tossed one of his sandwiches at me.

I laughed when it hit me on the forehead, splattering mustard across my forehead. I peeled the saturated piece of bread off my face and tossed it back at him, "No thanks, I'm not hungry!"

I frowned as a small stump of branch began to dig into my rear end, I shifted my weight and moved to get the offensive thing off my ass. My breath caught in my throat as I felt the hem of my dress pulling as I tried to get up from the crouched position I was in. I cursed out loud as I felt myself falling backward, my stupid dress still caught on the heel of my shoe.

I tried vainly to catch myself, but before I knew it, I was in a very unflattering heap on the ground, Donnie had dropped his sandwich and was rushing to me, "RO! Ohmigod! Are you okay!?" I could tell that he was stifling giggles, that little bastard.

I unrolled my self and smoothed out the front of my dress, "Yes, I'm fine. So you can laugh to your little hearts content... no need to feel guilty about it now that you know I'm alright, right?" I said with a little more snoot than I really meant.

It took about 3.5 seconds before he was practically rolling on the ground with laughter, "You should have seen it! The way you flipped like that! It was pretty awesome, who knew the human body could bend like that. You should be lucky you didn't land on your face."

He walked behind me and pulled the bottom of my skirt down, "Whoa, you're getting a little indecent there," he was still chuckling to himself, "Does your mama know you wear those things? They're a little racy," he tutted at me, "I don't think she'd approve."

I rolled my eyes at him, "They're just panties, and they're not as provocative as you make them sound."

"Yes," he countered at me, "But does she know you wear them?"

"My underwear is not my mother's concern, and it's certainly not yours either. Or are you just jealous that they look better on me than on you?"

He rolled his eyes at me, "Oh, yeah... I'm so jealous," he clasped his hands in front of him and swayed back and forth, "Oh, why can't I wear a cute little pair of red panties?" he squeaked out, trying to mimic my voice.

"Che, maybe cause everyone will think you're a freak."

We turned to see where the voice was coming from. Donnie exhaled loudly and turned back away from the voice as its owner came closer.

I sighed quietly and rolled my eyes, not in the mood to deal with this.

I tried very had to put on a genuine smile, "Charlene! Wow, it's great to see you again," I was going to be nice to her, even if it killed me.

A few years back she had been one of my best friends, back when she was gangly and pimply. Once she started to get really pretty she began to hang out with another group of kids; kids who didn't like Donnie or I. She starting hanging out with us less and less and with them more and more, until she was completely one of them.

Before we knew it she was making fun of us and treating a lot of the other kids like crap too.

The old Charlene was gone, and in her place was a beautiful young woman who unfortunately was not as beautiful on the inside as the out.

She tossed her glossy raven locks over her shoulder, "So, Rouge... Still wearing your sister's old handmedowns. That's too bad, maybe in another 20 years they'll be fashionable again."

I rolled my eyes, like I care, "Yeah, lets hope that."

Donnie scoffed, "You know, not every body's mother remarries a wealthy merchant. In fact, if yours hadn't you'd still be in handmedowns too."

She glared at him, "Oh, you're so funny."

He smiled back, "I know," he said tossing his ponytail over his shoulder, mimicking her.

"You are and always will be just a looser."

He shrugged, "And you're a whore. Why not go find some pirates, they haven't had the company of a... I guess I could call you a woman... right? Or would 'fire breathing hag' be more realistic? Anyway, they haven't had the company of what ever you are in quite some time," he laughed, "they might even pay you for your services!"

Charlene looked livid, her coffee colored eyes flashed with anger and hate, "They'd probably pay you more!"

"Honey, they couldn't afford me," he said with a smile.

I just sighed and shook my head, once upon a time they had been as close as siblings and wouldn't have let anyone talk to the other as they were speaking to each other now. It made me sad and nostalgic, thinking of how we used to be and how we are now.

I missed Charlene, she was the one I told all my girlish fantasies to as a child, the one I giggled with in the dark, under sheets we fashioned into a fort during sleepovers. The one I went to when I had problems and secrets. I can't understand how we've come to this point. I wish I could go back in time and fix whatever went wrong.

I sighed again as they continued to fight, "Donnie, can we stop this now, please?"

He turned to me with an eyebrow raised.

"You should listen to your girlfriend," Charlene said, her voice oozing malice.

Donnie shrugged, "I couldn't care less about hurting her feelings," he told me, "but if you want to sure."

He looked at the sky, "I've gotta be getting back anyway. It's nearly suppertime I'd wager."

He picked up his basket full of cherries, "I'll talk to you later, alright?" he asked me.

I nodded, "Sure."

"Good bye, Whore!" He smiled and waved at Charlene, "Have a wonderful time tonight, selling your wares to unwashed pirates!"

She glared at him and started walking off in the opposite direction. It felt strange, standing there watching two of my oldest friends walk away from me and each other, knowing how much hatred was between the two.

I stared at my half empty basket, forlorn and melancholy. My uplifted mood had vaporized like mist warmed by the rising sun.

I couldn't let myself go back home without the fruit I'd promised so I decided it'd be best to finish filling my basket before returning.

Not wanting to be in that area anymore, I decided to go south and find more trees.

After another half hour my basket was almost to the top, _Just one more tree should do it, then I can get the hell out of here_.

I picked a tree off to my left that looked sturdy enough to hold me, I didn't want to fall again, even though I knew the tree really didn't have much to do with me falling.

I set my basket down and gazed up into the tree trying to plan my route up into its branches. As I searched my gaze landed on a woman.

I frowned, _Why is she up there?_ I looked her over wondering if she was alive or not. She was very large and had on a bright yellow sundress with little orange flowers on it, a long purple scarf that was decorated in a swirly pattern, a huge green floppy hat with ribbon around it and heavy boots. She looked like she had dressed in the dark.

I began to wonder if she was one of the Nelson girls, they were very stout ladies. Their father was the local blacksmith, he and his wife had no sons so they began to let their daughters work in the forge. They actually did very good work. No one dared to mock any of the Nelson girls, they were as fierce as they were strong. Over the years they had become very well-thought-of, not only as blacksmiths but as very respectable young women.

I had half a mind to wake her up, but at the same time I didn't really want to disturb her. Maybe she was getting away from the family, as I was and wanted privacy. Or she lost track of time and was late, as I was.

I pulled myself up into the tree, seeking out the branch she was sleeping on. As I got closer I could hear her lightly snoring. I chuckled to myself, not very ladylike. But something told me this girl wasn't very ladylike anyway.

I stood on the branch below hers and straightened out enough to give her a little shake. She didn't even move. I frowned, if she hadn't been snoring I'd be scared she was dead. I shook her a bit harder, "Oi! Wake up, it's kinda late. Well past Suppertime, your mother and father will be wondering where you are."

I gave her another little shake and gasped, stunned when she rolled off the tree and went plummeting to the ground on the side opposite to me.

"! I _killed_ her!" I jumped to the ground from the branch I was on ran stumbling to the other side of the tree where the girl had landed. Hoping she'd be alright.

I dropped down beside her just as she was pulling herself up. I sighed, relieved that she seemed to be unharmed.

"Are you alright? Do you need a doctor!? Are you dead? No, of course you're not dead, that was a stupid question, I-"

I frowned as she started laugh, a loud, boisterous laugh.

I started aghast, "You're a man?"

He unrolled himself and got up, pushing his ghastly dress down and straightening his hat, "You know any lass as big as I am!?" He continued to laugh, his back turned to me.

"Well, actually I do..." _why the hell is this idiot dressed up like that!?_

"No way!," he retied his scarf around his neck.

"Yeah," I replied slowly. _Wait a minute... oh hell no!_

I was almost sure I knew who this idiot was, and this was totally just my luck.

He turned around, "Why did you wake me – it's you!" He laughed as he pointed at me.

"I was about to say the same thing..." I answered disillusioned. _My god, it is him... well, now I've got two faeries in my life... how wonderful for me._

He caught the look I was giving him and grinned, "Aren't I pretty?"

"Honestly?" I asked, if he wanted honest I was going to give it to him.

He started laughing again, "Sure!"

I sighed, "The dress is hideous, and everything you put on clashes. So no, I'd have to say it's not very pretty. In fact, it's borderline ugly."

He paused for a moment and looked down at himself, "You're right!" and started laughing again, he waggled a finger at me, "not many would be so upfront with me! Most would lie!"

I rolled my eyes, "Well, I guess there's the fact that you tired. So that kind of counts for something."

"Tried? Tried what?"

"To look... nice?" I shrugged, he looked so ridiculous, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Nice...BAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm not trying to look nice! I lost a bet with some of my shipmates!"

"A bet? Really, a bet? Why would you agree to a bet that would have you in a dress, looking like a fool?"

"Because I thought I'd win, Obviously." he stated it like anyone would have the same sound logic.

"Obviously," I echoed dumbfounded, well if anything this guy's full of surprises, "So how long do you have to dress like that?"

"Oh, I don't know..." he shrugged.

"You don't know!? How could you not know?"

"I didn't care at the time cause I thought I'd win!" He laughed again, "I will next time!"

I just shook my head at him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Picking cherries," I pointed to the basket on the ground.

"I'll help, and then I can walk you home. It's getting dark, and there's lots of unsavory characters about! Pirates even, and you know who bad a lot they are!" He chuckled to himself.

I sighed, Oh yes, my mother would just _love_ this, "Sure, why the fuck not?"

I was already late, she was going to yell... why not give her a proper reason?

Okay kids! This is the end of this chapter! It took WAAAY longer than I'd hoped but there it is! Hope you liked it, review and tell me! I'm going to bed now. toodles


	6. A walk and a talk!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece nor am I making any money off this story. It's solely for entertainment purposes.

A Life Without Regret a Love Without Fear

By: Shironami

We walked up the small path together side by side, on our way to my house... and most assuredly, my death. With one look at us, I knew my mother would go into a blind rage. I tried to push this thought to the back of my mind, but it always found its way out from the black abyss of my subconscious to eat at my insides. It's not like I was seeking my mother's approval, but I wanted her to like this man as much as I did. It hurt a little knowing that not only would she disprove of him, she was most likely going to hate him.

Half of me was excited and fluttery, the other was trying to drag my feet and tell him off before my mother did. Every time I was about to stop and tell him I could find my own way home he'd look at me and laugh; still wearing that ridiculous getup that he was so proud of. I'm not sure why or what made him so proud. I thought he looked like a complete idiot.

Every time I tried to get him to take off that crap, he'd laugh and say he'd lost fair and square and he was never one to back out of a promise. He had his pride or some other such nonsense, I'd started to ignore him once he started going on and on about his 'Pirate's Pride'. I just nodded and smiled trying not to roll my eyes at him. God, men are so stupid... all of them, it's just a matter of to which degree.

He turned to me, "Hey, I'm not boring you am I?"

I sighed a little to myself, "No, not really... I'm just a little worried about what my family will say when they see me with a giant cross-dresser... Not to mention the fact that you're a pirate. My mother doesn't like them much."

"Pirates or cross-dressers?" He snickered with sarcasm while giving me a mischievous smile.

I smiled back, not really enjoying the irony, "Both."

At least he put me in a good mood, he was funny and care-free, I needed a good laugh after what had happened with Charlene. I always felt alone and empty when I ran into her these days.

"So, you're telling me that I don't have a snowballs' chance in hell of her liking me?" He asked scratching his cheek.

I shrugged a little, "That's right... in fact, I'd say it's less than a snowball's chance in hell."

"Less, huh?" he answered, a wide grin spreading over his face.

"Why do you look so happy? I'm standing here telling you she is going to hate you! Don't you get what that means?" I threw my arms up in the air, exasperated.

He laughed hardily, "That's great!"

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying- pointlessly- to calm myself, "Why do you think that's great. Most _normal_ people wouldn't like someone to dislike them before the other person even gets to know them."

He laughed and held up a large finger in my direction, "Because," he said as if there would be no reason why I wouldn't know this, "it makes it more fun!"

"You have a very skewed perception of the world," I rolled my eyes at him, trying not to enjoy this conversation, even though it was probably the strangest I've ever had.

"Nope, you do!" He pointed almost violently at me, "besides, I'm a pirate! No one likes us... at least no one with any sense! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If people liked us, I'm afraid that would mean we aren't very good at being pirates," he finished very solemnly.

I put my hands on my hips, "So, your greatest goal in life is to be feared and treat people like trash?" I asked snottily.

He laughed again, slapping his hand over his eyes, "Man, you don't get us at all!"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Don't I?" I waved my hand at him dismissively, "It's not like there's that much to understand. Pirates want gold and they don't care who they have to mow through to get it," I said snobbishly.

He shoved me hard as he laughed, "SEE! You don't get anything!"

"Are you trying to tell me I'm wrong?" I asked indignantly, tilting my head to one side, looking him in the face.

"Na, not tryin. I'm flat out telling you you're wrong," he scratched the crown of his dark head and shrugged, "well, now that I think a little bit, I guess you're right about most pirates. But those kind aren't the real kind, only fake ones... the money-grubbing ones . They do whatever they want a label themselves pirates so they think it's okay. Real, true pirates don't care so much about crap like money and pillaging and shit."

"Oh really, then what do _real_ pirates care about?" I asked rolling my eyes again.

"Adventure!" he answered wistfully, a smile washing across his expressive face, "You never know what's going to happen next and it's total freedom! Going where ever the wind takes you! Never looking back always moving forward. Seeing new places and new people all the time. There's nothing like falling asleep under the stars with the ship gently swaying beneath you."

I considered this for a moment, "That sounds nice, but don't you ever miss your home, your family?"

He laughed and patted me on the head, "Buhahaha, I take my home with me where ever I go, and my family are those on that home just like me!"

"But what about your _real_ family?" I asked.

"They are my real family. I have none else. My parents died when I was very young and I've not really had anyone around. Not before I became a pirate anyway. Those most important to me are always with me."

I nodded, I guessed it was a satisfactory answer. If he loved them and they loved him, then that's good, right?

"Okay, I have a strange question: how do you put up with those two kids?" I asked rolling my eyes at just the thought of those brats.

"Kids? What kids?" He answered my question with a question.

I raised an eyebrow, how could he not know them, "Those two, about 10 or 11-ish. One's got red hair the other blue hair and a really big red nose."

He slapped his forehead, his big floppy hat shifting back, "Oh, them! Buhahahahaha! Those two are great! I love those little rats! Always good for a laugh!"

I shook my head at him, "They were fighting, the kid with the giant nose tried to stab the other one! That's not funny!"

He waved dismissively at me, "They're just playing! They're kids, they do that. No harm done."

"Okay, but what if Big Nose had killed StrawHat Boy? What then?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Never woulda happened, they fight all the time but they don't ever come to serious blows. Shanks probably woulda tripped Buggy or something and no one would get hurt. Buggy looks like he might be able to do serious damage, but the kid really doesn't got it in him. His like a little bunny rabbit, all bark and no bite! He's just all talk! Buhahahahahahaha!"

"I don't think that's how that saying goes..." I sighed heavily, "You know, just cause he's harmless now doesn't mean he'll stay that way."

He smiled at me, "They know who's in charge and we've got them totally under control!"

"Do you? Really, they just do what ever you say, when ever you say? No fighting or talking back or ignoring you?"

He laughed a little, "Of course! They're good kids, just a tad on the lively side. They'll be great pirates some day!"

"Sooo," I asked with an eyebrow raised, "they're not pirates now?"

He looked at me like I was stupid, "Sure they're real pirates, they're just in training. We make sure they stay outta trouble and don't get into any really dangerous situations before they're ready. They're just boys; we don't want them to get hurt."

"In training..." I though about this concept for a minute, "so someone has to be trained to be a pirate? They can't just jump aboard and have at it?"

"Well, I suppose one could... but it works better if you know what you're doing first. And we teach em how to be real pirates. Not those sissy pansies that only care about gold. There's a lot more to being a pirate than people think! When, or if, those boys decide to leave and make their own way in the world we won't be worried about what kinda pirates they will turn out to be. Won't be sad or humiliated when some one says they were Roger's boys. Nope, they'll do us proud! I just know it.

I sometimes think Shanks will have a better time about it than Buggy. Shanks is easier to get along with and not so greedy. That boy just wants to have a good time, Buggy on the other hand...," He sighed shaking his head a little, "I just hope he turns out all right. I worry about him a lot more. Rayleigh tries hard with them; and that's all we can ask."

"You talk like you are personally responsible for them." I said it more like a question then the statement it really was.

He nodded completely serious for the first time, "Aye, that I am. It was my choice to bring them aboard and my fault if anything goes wrong."

"So you're saying anyone on the ship can pick some random person off the street and they'd be welcomed among the crew? No questions asked?" I wondered out-loud, intrigued .

He shrugged at me a little, "Well, see..." he scratched the back of his neck while pausing to think, "it's not so easy as all that. But a crewman can... sorta, nominate... I guess, a person to join the crew. Or a person can ask for admittance into the crew. After which a vote takes place and if enough hands say it's okay then that person can join. Of course, the captain has the right to deny a person, even if the crew voted him in. But that's never happened on our ship. Now, I'm not totally sure how other ships work really, they may do it differently. But that's how it's done on mine."

"So, you nominated those two kids and the crew voted them in?"

"Yep," he answered smiling.

"So what do they do on the ship?" I asked after thinking about what he said for a moment.

He smiled at me, all white, shiny teeth, "Whatever needs to be done. Swab the deck; do the dishes; clean the toilets; scrub off the barnacles; sew up the sails," he shrugged, "you know... kiddie stuff."

I raised my chin at him, "So they do the crap the adults don't want to do?"

He chuckled and nodded, "See there, now you're gettin it!"

"That's horrible! Why would anyone allow that to happen?" I crossed my arms over my chest, no wonder these kids were so messed up.

"It's just the way it is," he shrugged half-heartily, "when they be all grown up and have ships of their own, the boys they choose to be chore boys will do the same as they're doing now. And they'll have an appreciation of the hard work those kids are doing cause they were those kids once! Just like us grown ups feel toward the little toads right now. It's all part of growin up on a ship. Marines have chore boys too, not just us pirates."

"It still seems a little too harsh to me."

"You got kids in your family? Nieces, nephews, cousins?" He asked while looking out at the green fields.

"Sure..." I answered, wondering why he was asking.

"They do what ever they want? Or do they got rules? Stuff you allow them to do and stuff you don't?"

"Yes, of course, we don't allow the kids to beat on each other or act like uncivilized barbarians. There's nothing wrong with that. That's how you're supposed to raise children." I said hotly at him, getting defensive.

"Uh-huh," he said while appearing to ponder his next question, "so then, do they clean their own rooms and help out with the little chores like sweeping the floor?"

I sighed, knowing exactly where this was going, "That's totally different! Kids help out around the house so they will know how to do it for themselves when they're older!"

He smiled triumphantly, "Sounds about the same to me."

I frowned, "It may be a little similar, but still we aren't teaching our kids to kill people or burn down villages after taking everything there is to take."

He scoffed at me, "Neither are we! We just teach them how to take care of the ship; if you don't take care of it, it won't take care of you."

I sighed then decided to keep quiet, not wanting to argue with him. I did feel he had a point; no one from the ship had caused any trouble. They weren't even stealing anything, they happily paid for everything they wanted. In fact, having them around had lined the pockets of our village quite nicely.

I looked around for a moment, so I wouldn't have to look at him and my pulse started racing when I noticed how close we were to my house. I started to panic... this was the worst idea I'd ever had!

I tried to stall hoping he would get the idea and excuse himself, so I wouldn't have to.

He chuckled and bumped me with his elbow, "You seem to have gotten very tense and I think you're trying to get rid of me..." He let his sentence hang in the air uncompleted but he didn't bother to finish it. And I didn't need him to to tell what he was getting at.

I shrugged, then came to a stop, "It's just that we're almost at the house. And I don't mean to be rude but my family will not want you around. I just don't want them to hurt your feelings or upset you. They will be horrible to you and angry at me for bringing you there."

He chuckled a little, "I certainly don't want to get you into trouble. If you want to part ways, I'm fine with that. I'm glad I got to walk with you this far. Most people wouldn't even talk to me for as long as you have. And as for hurting my feelings, I'm sure that's impossible. I don't really care what people think of me, in fact, let them think whatever they want. It's not important at all. I thank you for the pleasant company and hope to see you again soon!"

With a giant smile he tipped his giant floppy womans' hat at me and turned to leave. Now I was torn; I didn't want him to go and I had enjoyed talking with him, but I knew my family would be mad. I wouldn't be surprised if my father tried to shoot him.

But still, I didn't feel as though I was ready for him to walk away. And what if I never saw him again, what if he thought that I was blowing him off and using my parents as an excuse.

"Wait!" I ran back down the road to catch up with him, "you know... I'm kinda thinking I really don't care what my folks think. Hell, they might even like you... assuming they give you a chance." I nodded my head in the direction of the house, "let's go." I said with more confidence than I felt.

I slung my arm though his, "I'll lead the way!" I smiled at him.

"If you're sure, I"d be happy to escort you home," he returned my smile tenfold.

I glanced at him with a feeling this would go _much_ better if he had on different clothes. 'Take it or leave it' I thought to myself with an ironic smile. At least Marie and Raul were on my side; they were sure to treat him nicely. If only them... well, it's not like I didn't warn him, he knows exactly what he's getting into. To top it off he's excited about it, like it's a game.

'This is surly not the predictable type of man I'm used to being around, and I really think I sort of like it,' I thought to myself, 'even if he is a little weird.'

* * *

Hello! Shironami here! Sorry for the gross lack of update! I'm sorry! Life has been busy, and I think this story is cursed, I've gone through 3 computers since I started it! I'm almost afraid to post this chapter... Hopefully nothing will happen. My last computer was in my car and it was broken into and stolen... yay for dishonest, mean people! Jerk... anyway, sorry for the shortness of this chapter and the fact that nothing at all is happening in it. I totally hate this chapter! but its an update so I'll take it. I do have a few ways I might take this story, I just haven't decided on which as of yet. If you have comments or ideas I'm always open to listen to them, great story plots or devices don't always come from the author. I just hope the next one is better. It's really weird for me to write something that has no humor in it. But next up is Family Time! wow, yeah, I can already picture the chaos! Hopefully that one will be good and funny, not lame like this one. But I figured the characters needed a little one-on-one face time.

I want to thank all the awesome people who have reviewed my story! It's amazing to me that even after all the time that has passed since I last updated I'll still get alerts to favs, reviews and stuff! So thanks again for the kind words that made me not drop this story! It's so go to know people are reading my crappy little story and liking it! THANK YOU! ^_^ love you all!


End file.
